1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric hair trimmer.
2. Prior Art
FIGS. 11 and 12 show one conventional electric hair trimmer.
Reference numeral 102 is a main body case of the trimmer 100. A trimmer head 104 is provided on one end of the main body case 102, and a handle (not illustrated) is provided on the other end. A multiple number (two in this prior art) of engaging grooves 106 which are parallel to an immovable blade and a movable blade (described later) are formed on both side surfaces of the trimmer head 104.
The immovable blade 108 is installed in the trimmer head 104 so that the edge of the blade, which is formed into a sawtooth edge, protrudes from the upper surface of the trimmer head 104.
The movable blade 110 is installed on the immovable blade 108 so that the movable blade 110 performs a linear reciprocating motion in the left-right direction with respect to FIG. 11 while-the edge of the movable blade 110, which is formed as a sawtooth edge, slides against the edge of the immovable blade 108.
A comb attachment 112 is made of an elastically deformable material, e.g., a synthetic resin, etc., and is composed of two U-shaped members 114 positioned at a distance from each other that are connected at arm portions of the respective U-shaped members 114. In addition, a comb portion 116 which extends in the bending direction of the U-shaped members 14 is formed on the connected portion of the comb attachment 112. Furthermore, engaging projections 118 are formed on the inside surfaces of the tip ends of the arm portions of the U-shaped members 114.
The comb attachment 112 is attached to the trimmer head 104 in a detachable manner. In other words, the comb attachment 112 is pushed over the trimmer head 104 from the direction of the end of the trimmer head on which the immovable blade 108 and movable blade 110 are installed while spreading the arm portions of the respective U-shaped members 114, thus letting the engaging projections 118 of the attachment 112 engage with the engaging grooves 106 of the trimmer head 104. The comb attachment 12 can be removed from the trimmer head 104 by shifting it in the reverse direction from that described above.
In addition, by engaging the projections 118 with different engaging grooves 106, the position of the comb attachment 112 on the trimmer head 104 can be altered, so that the amount by which the comb portion 116 extends in the direction of protrusion of the immovable blade 108 and movable blade 110 from the trimmer head 104 (i.e., upward in FIGS. 11 and 12) can be varied.
The comb portion 116 brings hairs, which have acquired an certain "habit" or are lying flat, to the immovable blade 108 and movable blade 110. In addition, since the amount of protrusion of the comb portion 116 can be altered by selecting different attachment positions of the comb attachment 112, the comb portion 116 may change the height or length at which the hairs are cut.
However, the conventional electric hair trimmer as describe above has several problems.
First, when the hair is cut, the hair that is to be cut is combed with a comb and is then cut by applying the immovable and movable blades 108 and 110 (hereafter, collectively called "the blades") of the electric hair trimmer 100 to the desired cutting position. In some cases, however, it is necessary to make fine adjustments in the cutting position; and from the standpoint of operating efficiency, such adjustments would ordinarily be made by moving the electric hair trimmer 100 in vertical and lateral directions with the blades contacting the hair. However, if the cutting position is thus adjusted, the hair may be damaged by the blades. In such cases, it would be possible to lift the blades temporarily from the hair and then reapply the blades to the hair after changing the cutting position so that the hair is not damaged. If this is done, however, the operating efficiency drops compared to cases where the trimmer is moved while being in contact with the hair as described above.
Furthermore, in some cases, the comb portion 116 of the electric hair trimmer 100 is passed through the hair in order to confirm the cutting height after the attachment position of the comb attachment 112 has been altered. In such cases as well, the blades are brought into contact the hair so that the comb portion 116 does not pass smoothly through the hair. Accordingly, confirming the cutting height in this manner requires some effort; and since the hair is in contact with the blades, it is likely that the hair is easily damaged.
Furthermore, when the electric hair trimmer 100 is carried or set down with the comb attachment 112 removed, the blades could be damaged when they contact hard objects since the blades stick out from the trimmer head 104 and are not covered at all. Moreover, if the blades should contact the human body, it is obviously very dangerous.